Think about how consultations usually go at your firm. What talking points do you and your team bring into those meetings? If your answer is “who we are, what we do, and the cost of our services,” there is a fundamental flaw in your consultation model keeping you from converting clients: You’re selling yourself instead of selling solutions.
Every client is different, so you can’t sell to all of them the same way (by selling yourself). Instead, you and your team need to tailor your sales pitch to the client, selling the answers to their needs and desires. Are they scared? Sell them reassurance. Are they in a hurry? Sell them speed. To go back to Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand, this simple mindset switch centers the client as the hero and makes you the guide.
It might sound complicated to craft a different sales pitch for every client, but you can use the exact same tactic each time to put yourself on the path toward nurturing a happy client. Instead of going into the room with answers, go in with 5–10 questions like these:
- What do you hope your life will be like when this case is over?
- How would you like to feel in six months?
- What are you afraid of?
- How would you describe your ideal lawyer?
- How long are you prepared to wait for your case to be resolved?
Questions like these will help you unearth what is important to your potential clients, sell your services to them more effectively, and prevent basic sales mistakes. Without it, you’re taking shots in the dark.
Say, for example, that you’re a divorce attorney and you’re proud of your firm’s efficiency, so in consultation, you emphasize speed, speed, speed. But the client in front of you doesn’t care about speed — they’re willing to wait as long as it takes if they get the house and their boat in the end. If you don’t unearth that motivation, you will continue selling to them the wrong way — and probably lose them as a lead.
Don’t underestimate the impact of the client’s needs, wants, and desires. Instead, make them the center of your story and train your team accordingly. Your consultation rate will soar.